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ORGANIZATION 

FOR THE 

ENLARGEMENT 

AND EXTENSION BY 

THE STATE OF THE 

UNIVERSITY PLAN OF 

HIGHER EDITCATION 

IN TEXAS 



THE HOGG ORGANIZATION 

BY 

S. E. MEZES, PRESIDENT 

OP 

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 



OFFICE OF 

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY 



AUSTIN. TEXAS 
FEBRUARY 10. 1»12 



Von Boeckmaun-Jones Co., Printers, Austin, Texas. 



or; 



'•^i'^ 



ORGANIZATION FOR THE ENLARGE- 
MENT AND EXTENSION BY THE 
STATE OF THE UNIVERSITY 
PLAN OF HIGHER EDU- 
CATION IN TEXAS 



THE HOGG ORGANIZATION 

BY 

S. E. MEZES, PRESIDENT 

OF 

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS 



NAME. 



The by-laws provide that this undertak- 
ing shall be named the ^'Organization for 
the Enlargement and Extension by the State 
of the University Plan of Higher Education 
in Texas." This title has the advantage of 
making plain to the discerning reader the 
pui-pose of the Organization; it was selected 
for that reason. But no prophet is needed 
to foresee that the title of convenience and 
appreciation will be "The Hogg Organiza- 
tion." 

The shorter title is made especially ap- 
propriate by the fact that the idea of this 
enterprise had its birth in a series of con- 
versations between former Governor James 
S. Hogg and his son, Will C. Hogg, held 
during the last six months of the former^s 
life. Always a fearless and convinced 
friend of education, during his later days 
Governor Hogg came to turn his thoughts 
more and more in this direction, and, as he 
did so, became increasingly convinced that 
thoroughgoing education from the primary 
grades up through the University was one of 
the most vital needs of the State. \Yhy his 
interest during his last days came to con- 
centrate on hisrher education can nnlv be 



surmised. No doubt the interest of his son 
in it was a potent factor. No doubt his 
knowledge that the people of Texas were 
fully alive to the need of strengthening the 
common schools in every possible way, while 
they appreciated in a lesser degree the equal 
need^ in their own interest, of properly 
equipping the institutions of higher educa- 
tion, also afforded a strong reason to a man 
of Governor Hogg's big ideas and sturdy 
native sense of proportion. But, whatever 
the cause of the interest, it was genuine and 
persistent, and during many an intimate 
talk those last six months the plan was 
gone over by father and son. At the time 
there was no immediate prospect of carrying 
it out, and it was a dream and an aspira- 
tion, rather than a set proposal. But when 
men big in heart and brain set themselves 
to dreaming, results of importance are likely 
to appear, and the ensuing reality, whether 
exactly patterned after their dreams or not, is 
likely to be something noteworthy, that 
makes for the welfare of men. It may well 
be that in years to come this contribution 
of the elder Hogg to the well-being of Texas 
will be ranked alongside of those achieve- 
ments of his as the State's Chief Executive, 
which have been assigned a high place in 
the annals of statesmanlike work in the 
Commonwealths of this nation. It was his 
purpose, had he lived, to have conducted in 
person the campaign throughout Texas to 
free our higher educational institutions from 
all disturbing political entanglements and 
to keep them free by putting them on an 
independent financial basis. 

PLAN. 

The plan outlined in these conversations 
was kept in mind by the younger Hogg for 
a number of years, awaiting the time when 



he could set to work with his characteristic 
vigor, and bring it into being as a vital 
factor in the educational development of 
Texas. During this interval he thought 
over the plan from time to time and per- 
fected it in a number of its undetermined 
details. It was in June, 1911, that he be- 
came assured of his ability to do his pnr^, 
and of the ripeness of the educational situ- 
ation in Texas for launching his proposal. 
He then presented it to the Alumni Associa- 
tion of the University at its annual meeting, 
and asked that this Association adopt and 
approve it, pledging himself to secure the 
handsome endowment necessary to its suc- 
cess. His fellow alumni willingly gave him 
their endorsement; and, after consulting 
with the three men picked out by the Asso- 
ciation to co-operate with him in launching 
the enterprise, Mr. Hogg set about the large 
task of securing the promised financial sup- 
port. 

The assurance given the Alumni Associa- 
tion was that subscriptions aggregating not 
less than $25,000 a year for five years 
would be secured by the first of November, 
1911. Although he was delayed by unex- 
pected but imperative business calls, and was 
hampered by personal illness for a portion 
of the time, by the 20th of October Mr. 
Hogg had secured the amount promised, and 
by the first of November had secured sub- 
scriptions aggregating $29,800 for each of 
the five years contemplated, or a total of 
$149,000. No subscription larger than $250 
a year was accepted, and no person or firm 
was put down for more than one subscrip- 
tion. No subscription smaller than $25 a 
year was accepted. Four hundred and forty- 
three individual subscriptions were received, 
and Mr. Hogg was, and is, convinced that 
as manv more could easilv be secured, in an 



equal length of time, by visits to many places 
in the State which he had no time to mai:e. 
A large number of his subscriptions came 
from men who never attended a college or 
university, but had become convinced by their 
observation and reflection that higher edu- 
cation is one of the prime needs of the State 
and its people. 

CONSTITUTION, BY-LAWS, COMMITTEES. 

After the promised subscriptions were 
secured, the Chairman of the Board of 
Regents, the President of the Alumni Asso- 
ciation, and the President of the Univer- 
sity, to whom this task was entrusted, 
drew up a constitution and by-laws and pro- 
ceeded to complete the organization for the 
administration of the fund, after having 
presented the plan in detail to the Board of 
Eegents of the University, and having re- 
ceived its approval at a meeting held October 
17, 1911. Two committees with similar, but 
slightly different functions, known as the 
Standing and the Advisory Committee, with 
the advice and assistance of a Corresponding 
Committee, constitute the Board of Control 
of the Hogg Organization. The Standing 
Committee consists of Messrs. Clarence 
Ousley, Fort Worth; S. B. Mezes, Austin; 
E. B. Parker, Houston; R. L. Batts, Austin; 
W. H. Burges, El Paso; John W. Hopkins, 
Galveston; F. C. Proctor, Beaumont; George 
A. Robertson, Dallas, and M. Sansom, Fort 
Worth; the Advisory Committee of Messrs. 
S. P. Brooks, Waco; Will C. Hogg, Hous- 
ton; Frank Kell, Wichita Falls; C. Lom- 
bardi, Dallas; E. 0. Lovett, Houston; 
Charles Schreiner, Kerrville; Ed. C. Lasa- 
ter, Falfurrias, and F. M. Bralley, Austin. 
The members of the Correspondence Com- 
mittee are to be non-resident former Texaus 
of National reputation; their names will be 



published later. Mr. S. E. Mezes is Chair- 
man, Mr. R. L. Batts, Vice-Chairman, and 
Mr. Arthur Lefevre, Secretary of the Board 
of Control. A Finance Committee consist- 
ing of Messrs. Parker, Hogg and Mezes is 
empowered to act for the Board in cases of 
emergency, when it is not in session. 

PROGRAM OF WORK. 

So much for the steps leading to the es- 
tablishment of this important organization ; 
now for a brief description of the work it 
proposes to do. For the present two lines 
of activity have been mapped out: first, an 
investigation of higher educational institu- 
tions, and, second, an educatioiial campaign, 
acquainting the people of the State with the 
present status of such institutions in Texas 
and with the enlargement and extension of 
their service that would be beneficial to the 
State. 

The work of investigation will be in the 
hands of Mr. Lefevre, as Research Secretary, 
except for one of its special but important 
departments, dealing with the constitutional 
and legal status of the higher educational in- 
stitutions of Texas, which will be studied 
by a committee of lawyers on the Board of 
Control, with Mr. Batts^ of Austin, as Chair- 
man. Both the general and the legal in- 
vestigations will undertake to secure facts, 
to digest them, and to present proposals to 
the Board of Control for its consideration, 
modification, if necessary, and adoption. As 
a result of these investigations, the Organ- 
ization expects to recommend to the people 
of Texas a plan outlining in some detail the 
activities that should be undertaken by 
higher ediTcational institutions in Texas, in 
the service of the people of the State, and 
the constitutional and legal changes neces- 
san^ for the carrying out of these plans. 



The purpose of the educational campaign 
to be carried on by the Organization is, in 
its own words, "to distribute, as widely as 
possible throughout Texas, information on 
the following points: (a) The present 
plant, activities, and amounts and methods 
of support, of the University of Texas, the 
Agricultural and Mechanical College, the 
College of Industrial Arts, and the State 
Normal Schools. (b) The needed im- 
provements of, and additions to, the plants 
and activities of these institutions, and the 
increased income and support necessary to 
make those improvements and additions, 
based upon a study of similar institutions 
elsewhere, (c) The value to the people of 
Texas of the present services of these insti- 
tutions, and the increased benefit to them of 
the services that could be rendered with im- 
proved and additional facilities.'^ 

In distributing this information, the fol- 
lowing means and methods, among others, 
with such modifications as may prove ex- 
pedient, will be employed : "(a) Bulletins 
and special articles, (b) Charts to be 
posted in courthouses, public libraries, cham- 
bers of commerce, and other suitable public 
places, (c) Special articles and other mat- 
ter in the leading daily papers, and appro- 
priate matter in the country papers, (d) 
Attendance on and addresses at, all impor- 
tant teachers' and other public meetings and 
fairs in the State, (e) Special mailing 
cards to be sent to a list of several thousand 
selected persons, (f) Suitable exhibits for 
the State and principal county fairs, accom- 
panied wherever sent by some person compe- 
tent to explain them." 

ALL HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 

While this plan for the enlargement and 
extension of higher education in Texas was 



launched by the University Alumni Associ- 
ation, neither its promoters nor the commit- 
tees in charge of the fund are willing that 
the University alone should profit by the 
activities to be undertaken. All realize that 
all parts of the educational system of the 
State are of vital importance to its welfare, 
and that any selfish or exclusive concern for 
any one institution or educational subdivi- 
sion would be improper and unworthy of the 
support of the people. The Organization, 
therefore, proposes, as its plan of campaign 
outlined above makes plain, to give due at- 
tention to all the higher educational insti- 
tutions, and to conduct its campaign in com- 
plete harmony with the interests and devel- 
opment of the State system of common 
schools. In order to insure the carrying out 
of this broad programme, the control of the 
educational campaign is put in the hands of 
a committee, consisting of two members of 
the Organization, and of representatives of 
the University of Texas, the Agricultural 
and Mechanical College, the College of In- 
dustrial Arts, the State Normal Schools, and 
The Conference for Education in Texas; 
and the executive management of the cam- 
paign is entrusted to the Secretary of this 
committee, Mr. F. M. Bralley, who as State 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, and, 
in that capacity, the people's highest elective 
educational officer, is in a position to carry 
it on in harmony with the State's educa- 
tional policies. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRE 



019 885 460 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

019 885 460 ! 



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